Can China Complete its Painful Capacity Reductions?

China plans to cut its steel production by 50 million metric tons, and its coal production by 150 million tons in 2017. But can the country achieve those goals while simultaneously meeting its 9% target for fixed-asset investment? Fanfan Wang and Grace Zhu report at The Wall Street Journal:

Last year, the government cut steel overcapacity by 45 million tons and coal by 250 million tons.

The government also aims to realize 9% growth in fixed-asset investment this year, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a report delivered at the National People’s Congress.

Beijing had set a 10.5% growth target for fixed-asset investment in 2016, but the actual growth came in much slower at 8.1% amid a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.

The NDRC said it expected retail sales to increase by about 10% in 2017, compared with a target of 11% in 2016. Last year, China’s retail sales rose 10.4% from a year earlier.